Episode 007 Show Notes:
What does it cost to buy a house really? What would it look like if it was easy to get on the housing ladder? You’ve had enough of renting or living with family. You’re totally on board with the UK obsession with home ownership. You want an asset, or something to pass down to your children, or you’re in love with interior design.
Or perhaps you just want a fricking roof over your head that you’re convinced would be more secure than your current circumstances. I’m going to talk you through the fees, pitfalls and loopholes associated with buying a home. I cover how you can significantly reduce those or avoid them altogether, so that you can put more money towards your deposit, or a refurb if you’re buying a fixer upper, or simply keep that money aside as your savings buffer.
Previous Episode: HTSLAB 006: Quick Tips To Save Money
Next Episode: HTSLAB 008: Hate Compromise? 7+ Frugal Tips That Really Work
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About The Show
How To Save Like A Bear helps first-time buyers and savers with big goals make the changes they need to succeed. Use these strategies to spend better on essentials, make more money, and think outside the box so that you can improve your future rocket fast.
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Related Content
Read more about property on the blog.
How I Saved Half My Wages For A Deposit
What You Need To Get The Best Mortgage Offer
How To Choose A Conveyancer Or Solicitor You Don’t Hate
Recommendations
Don’t forget to subscribe to Save Like A Bear while you’re there. My other channel Bear Meets Life is about coping strategies for autistic people, especially through art therapy.
I don’t have much in the way of book recommendations this week, precisely because this was an area where I felt let down as a first-time buyer.
Phil Spencer’s How to Buy Your First Home (And How to Sell it Too) was published in 2011. I’ve drafted two books on property that I’d like you to access as an audiobook too in future. Let me know if you’d like to read or listen more about the homebuying steps, and how to budget for them, and I will work hard to get those recorded and into print.
If keeping your other costs down while you save is where you struggle, then besides exploring the blog posts, try what you can for free.
A great way to try out audiobooks is with a free trial of Audible.
If you can’t find your favourite book in a free trial of Kindle Unlimited, there are 1million+ books included, so see what else you find!
Prime members also have access to the Kindle Owners Lending Library.
Try Prime for free for 30 days first if needed.
Students can get a six month free trial of Prime.
If you usually pay for supermarket delivery and Amazon Prime anyway, AmazonFresh deliveries are free now in selected postcodes. You can try AmazonFresh free for 30 days first.
I design notebooks for fun if you need to commit your plans to paper
Side hustlers and full-time entrepreneurs can get a free Amazon Business Account, so that you can order all your best value supplies in one place.
The quote at the end comes from cult TV classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Seasons 1-7 of Buffy on DVD are a great investment IMHO (i.e. over 100 hours of entertainment!), or it’s available to Prime members. If you want to watch before you buy, get a free trial of Amazon Prime Video.
Thea de Gallier’s article Buying a house: The deposit, the mortgage, and why I couldn’t do it
The related BBC Radio 4 Moneybox Live episode: How to buy a property without the help of mum and dad
Felicity Hannah on Twitter
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Recommended Tools
If you need a microphone whatever your profession or hobby, I use the Samson Q2U.
If you’re interested in podcasting, I use Spreaker for my hosting.
The mailing list functions thanks to email service provider ConvertKit (affiliate link).
I invested in the annual plan (which nets a discount on paying monthly). This is because when I start a project, I like to commit to seeing my goal through, so paying upfront ensured I wouldn’t quit emailing blog readers after a week!
You can start with a free plan though if you’re really not sure where you’re headed, or you’re technology shy (affiliate link). I find ConvertKit very easy to use though despite setting up automations and sequences and all that fancy jazz.
Many of the images on the blog are thanks to photographer and content extraordinaire Kayla Marie Butler.
Kayla offers a package of stock photos and marketing resources so that busy entrepreneurs have the power to quickly create content that boosts their traffic, leads and profits:
Kayla does offer free stock photos for anyone shy of investing in the future just yet. Or it’s possible to buy individual bundles of her photos from the Ivory Mix Stock Photo Shop. Kayla breaks these into categories, so that it’s easy to just buy stock photography for business and finance brands for example.
Let me know if you want to know what else I use to run the blog besides what’s mentioned on the Bear Resources page, or if you have questions. What do you need help with in your side hustle or business?
If you’re serious about investing in podcasting equipment to sound as professional as possible, this page has recommendations for every budget:
Best Podcasting Tools For Professionals And Beginners
Go forth!
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